Tuesday, November 01, 2011

Andy Carroll believes Liverpool have the squad to cope without the likes of Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher.

The club's long-serving duo were absent for Saturday's Premier League clash with West Brom, a game the Reds won 2-0.

Carroll scored Liverpool's second on the stroke of half time and he admitted that it was tough without Carrgher (calf) and Gerrard (ankle).

However, the former Newcastle man was pleased with the club's replacements and admits when the pair return it will provide a boost.

"It was tough not having Stevie or Carra in the squad," Carroll told the Liverpool Echo.

"They are great players and we need them in the team once they've got over their little niggles.

"But we have fantastic players that can come in. The game showed we've got lads who can step in when needed and do a job.

"We showed what we can do. We passed it around well and deserved the three points."

Carroll played alongside Luis Suarez up front and the 22-year-old marksman was delighted to be paired with the Uruguay international.

"Luis is a great player who works so hard for the team and it's nice to have him up top with me," he continued.

"Luis drops off, gets the ball into his feet, can dribble with it and slip people in.

"I couldn't name a better player in the Premier League than Luis. He's fantastic to have in the squad. He makes chances and scores goals himself so he's a great all-round player and he showed that again.

"We just try to stretch defenders and try to make the pitch as big as possible.

"Luis makes it easy playing alongside him. I think we played well together and hopefully that will carry on."

The attacking midfielder arrived at White Hart Lane from Barcelona in 2008, but has made more appearances on loan away from the club in the three years since then. The 22 year-old has enjoyed decent success on loan with the likes of Ipswich Town, Galatasaray and most recently, Racing Santander.

The attacker was somewhat forgotten at the North London side but since making the move to La Liga, seems to have revived his profile somewhat.

Although dos Santos is thought to prefer a move to warmer climates, if the Merseysiders will meet the £9.7m price-tag of the Mexican star, they could tempt Spurs into selling.

This would be something of a surprise move for Liverpool to make but it is worth noting that Anfield’s director of football Damien Comolli was the man who brought Giovani Dos Santos to White Hart Lane from Barcelona so clearly the Frenchman values the Mexican youngster.

The 22 year old has made just two Premier League starts since his move to North London over three years ago and appears to not be part of Harry Redknapp’s first team plans. Given that Daniel Levy did not hand the Tottenham boss much in the way of a summer transfer fund boost it seems plausible that any decent bid for Giovani would be accepted.

Giovani dos Santos is an adaptable attacker who can play either in an advanced central midfield floating role, out wide or in the hole behind the strikers. He is young and clearly has the raw potential to make a name for himself and his top performances for Mexico prove he has the ability to follow up on that potential.

Liverpool has a number of midfield options but may feel that a new attacking weapon would come in handy. Though the likes of Charlie Adam, Jordan Henderson and Stewart Downing were brought in over the summer the Merseyside club also lost Raul Meireles and sent out Alberto Aquilani and Joe Cole out on loan, with neither looking likely to be part of Dalglish’s long term plans.

Manchester City are ready to offer Wycombe starlet Jordan Ibe a multi-million pound package, in a bid to beat Premier League rivals Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United to his signature.

The 15-year-old shot to fame with a superb goal against Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday, in his first professional start, following a series of impressive substitute appearances.

Ibe's strike helped seal a place in the Wycombe history books, as their youngest ever scorer, but with a host of Premier League sides now stepping up their interest, it looks like his days as a Chairboys player are numbered.

Manchester United came close to sealing a transfer in the summer, but rivals Manchester City have now made approaches to the players agent, offering a package that includes a house and car for the family, on top of a four-year development based contract.

The deal is attractive, but it's thought that Ibe would prefer a move to United or Arsenal instead, despite the financial incentives being offered up by chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak.

A switch in the forthcoming January transfer window is looking increasingly likely, but with such competition for a player manager Gary Waddock said this week can 'play at the highest level', there are a number of twists and turns still to come.

Liverpool left-back Jack Robinson has been handed a new long-term contract at Anfield after impressing manager Kenny Dalglish over the past six months.

Last season the 18-year-old was called into action on a number of occasions as Paul Koncheskey was sent out on loan and Fabio Aurelio was sidelined with an injury.

Dalglish is said to have been impressed with the assured performances of the youngster and has kept Robinson around the first team squad ever since he played against Arsenal and Manchester City last season.

Robinson joined the club at Under-10 level and became the youngest ever player to play for Liverpool when he made his debut against Hull in May 2010 aged just 16 years and 250 days.

The defender has made five first team appearances and is considered back-up to Jose Enrique who has impressed since making the move to Anfield in the summer.

"I was going for my lunch and I saw Damien Comolli (director of football) on my way through," said Robinson. "He pulled me to one side and said the club wanted to offer me a new contract.

"I'm delighted. There was no doubt in my mind, I was just so excited the club were offering me a contract. I've just got to keep working hard in training. I can't just sit back on this contract. I've got to keep improving and showing people what I'm about."

U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron apologized for comments he made about the "Justice for the 96" campaign. A Downing Street spokeswoman claims his words were misinterpreted and he did not intend to offend victims' families, according to the Daily Mail.

"The Prime Minister regrets if any offence has been caused," the spokeswoman said. "He didn't in any way mean any offence. His intention was quite the opposite. He was actually expressing his sympathy for how hard it can be to find closure coming to terms with grief."

In April 1989, 96 Liverpool fans were killed and hundreds more were injured because of overcrowding in the stands at Hillsborough Stadium. Early newspaper reports blamed the tragedy on Liverpool fans. Subsequent investigations cited crowd mismanagement by local police as the principle cause of the tragedy.

Since then, the victims and their families have tirelessly campaigned for authorities and officials to release all documents and information relating to the Hillsborough tragedy. The campaign is an effort to "clear the names of the dead," according to Brian Reece.

Cameron compared the campaign to "a blind man, in a dark room looking for a black cat that isn't there," prompting an outcry.

During the PM's question time in Parliament, Cameron was pressed by Liverpool MP Luciana Berger to apologize for the comparison. She called them "grossly offensive" to the victims and their families.

Liverpool Football Club has announced a new addition to its growing family of commercial partners. Stanley Black and Decker Inc will become the club's official partner in the tools and security categories on a worldwide basis.

Stanley Black and Decker Inc has been raising its profile globally through the Barclays Premier League during the past two seasons, and now it has partnered with one of the world's most iconic brands in football.

LFC Managing Director Ian Ayre said: "The Stanley and Black & Decker brands enjoy great heritage and tradition, much like Liverpool FC, and we look forward to working with Stanley Black and Decker on a global basis.

"Stanley is an excellent organization and fits very well into our family of sponsors and we are proud to join them and help take their engagement with football fans to the next level. The deal comes at an exciting time for Liverpool FC as we continue to announce a number of new partners, which will strengthen our commercial business."

Scott Bannell, VP of Global Corporate Brand Management for Stanley Black & Decker, added: "We are a 168-year-old company, and we are excited to be partnering with a club such as Liverpool that was founded in 1892, and is the most successful and iconic football club in the EPL, and one of the most popular and well-known football clubs in the world. Its rich history and tradition of excellence makes Liverpool a perfect fit with our own brands.

"Liverpool's heritage as a football powerhouse, its passionate and global fan base with more than 200 fan clubs in more than 40 countries, and dedication to success, is all in perfect keeping with our strategic goals to support and increase global brand recognition and sales activities for our portfolio of world class brands.

"This partnership with Liverpool FC will play an important role in continuing to effectively promote the Stanley Black & Decker portfolio of brands, and we are excited to now be a part of the Liverpool FC family."